Young Love
by nightkitty555
Summary: This story follows Sarra Salmalin, daughter of Daine and Numair, and the young man in her life. Please read and review. I have all of this written out on paper, but I am just now really editing and posting. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Please read and review. I could really use some nice, encouraging and constructive feedback. I wish there was a category for Sarra Salmalin, though she isn't actually mentioned until the Trickster books, it's only important to know that she's Numair and Daine's daughter. I also really think they should consolidate all of Tamora Pierce's material, because I'm not really sure where to post this. I really hope you enjoy! Future chapters will be longer, but this was a good breaking point.**

Chapter 1- A Question

"Sir… Lady… may I have a word with you?" These words seemed strange coming out of his mouth, yet he had practiced exactly what words to say. He wanted to speak with the same courtly grace his father always did. Though they were very kind, the great mages always made him a bit nervous, and he was especially nervous today.

"Of course, young man," said the lady. She was very beautiful, with curly brown hair a bit lighter than her daughter's. At the moment she was sporting a rather quizzical look. The man beside her was very tall and several years the woman's senior. He did not make eye contact often, and he radiated magic, sometimes almost hurting the senses of the boy, who had just a bit of the Gift himself.

"I am going to the castle very soon, and before I leave I would like to state my intensions towards your daughter." The boy thought this was very well said. It was just like it had come out of a book. Actually he borrowed the line from a book he found among his older sister's things. This statement caught the man's attention right away, and it earned a strange look, of panic or dread or some other emotion mixture. The man settled on a stern stare, perhaps to discourage the boy from continuing. He was determined though. "I would like to ask for her hand," he continued, spouting another line from the book his sister had been reading. This seemed too much for the man.

"In marriage? She is eight years old! I am not one of those nobles who sells off his daughter like cattle!" The boy had never seen the man flustered before, and it was terrifying.

The boy seized his moment as the older man took a breath. He almost squeaked, "I don't mean now, and only if Sarra wants to."

The man, Numair Salmalin the most respected and revered mage in all of Tortall, regained control of himself, perhaps realizing that he was only addressing a child. The woman who was grasping the man's hand spoke up, "That would be lovely dear, but let's not discuss this again for quite some time, alright?"

"Yes, Lady," he said, looking a bit dejected. He couldn't help himself from adding, "It's not just me. Sarra wants to marry me too. We were talking-"

The boy stopped talking because of the stern look on the normally cheerful woman's face. "Now young man, you cannot hold a child to a promise like that, no more than we would hold you to yours here. Understood?" Jasson tried not to think about stories the children in town told about the lady and how animals would do whatever she wanted. He knew the lady was very nice and would never hurt anyone who didn't really deserve it.

"Yes, Lady, of course." He looked a bit downtrodden, though he was trying not to show it.

"And," the man spoke, "You must promise not to harm our daughter in any way."

The boy's eyes widened, "Oh yes sir, I will swear by the crown, and the gods, and anything else you want."

A small smile appeared on the woman's lips, "Just a promise will do quite nicely. Now run along and enjoy your page training. I'm sure we'll be seeing you soon. We still make it up to the castle quite often." The boy turned to go figuring that he had just been dismissed, before the woman's words caught him, "Why do you want to marry our daughter?"

The boy answered honestly without giving it a thought, "Because she is the most fun person to play with in the world." Then he screwed up his face thinking for a bit before he continued, "And she's very nice and good to talk to. I'm never bored with her. And she's pretty." He said the last comment while looking at his feet.

"That's very nice of you to say," she said as he looked up and saw her smile. By her tone, he decided that she was done with him this time, so he turned to leave, bowing slightly to each of the mages as he left. He didn't try to stay to eavesdrop, because he knew he couldn't stay without one of the mages knowing.

"He is what, ten? Maybe even eleven? He is much too old for our daughter, and I don't this at all!" the male voice said. This brought on a great deal of loud female laughter. The boy remembered hearing how the mage had been twice his future wife's age when they first met, and that he had even been her teacher. The boy left feeling relieved and hopeful for his page training that was soon to come.


	2. Chapter 2 The Beginnings

**A/N: Can someone tell me how to change chapter titles that people see in the drop down menu? I hope people who read this enjoy it. I wrote it last year, but I'm revising it some now because it seems silly when I'm putting it out there for people to see… I'm nervous. **

**I put a general disclaimer here that of course this is fanfiction, so I don't own anything about the world of Tortall that we love so much. I certainly am not making money off of this.**

Chapter 2- The Beginnings

As Jasson walked away from the great lord and lady, he thought about the first really serious talk that he and Sarra ever had. It was over a year ago now. Some of the village boys had been making fun of him for spending so much time with a girl.

Flashback

They were playing at a stream that they often came to, between the lands held by their families. "I could change into a boy, and then they wouldn't tease you," the girl offered.

"No, you can't do that," the boy said a bit quickly.

The girl was already excited about this idea though, "Yes I can, Grandma only said I had to stay the same form until I was five, and I'm way passed that now. I turn into animals all the time! I think turning into a boy is harder maybe; I don't really know how to. But I did it as a baby, so I can do it again."

"Please don't," the boy said softly as he tried to resume playing in the stream.

"Okay, then you could change into a girl."

At this, the boy laughed, "Not everyone is as special as you. I can't do that, just like I can't talk to animals."

"Then why can't I become a boy too? Maybe I'd grow as tall as Papa. And then maybe I wouldn't' have to play with the maid's girl. She's afraid of all my friends." Sarra didn't like anyone who wouldn't let an assortment of wild creatures be around at all times.

The boy shook his head no, "I'm a boy and you're a girl, and that's the way it needs to be," he said, with a tone that hoped the matter was settled. He looked down at his feet that were soaking in the slowly moving water.

"Why?" Sarra complained.

"Because," the boy said very seriously, "I'm going to grow and marry you." After a pause he added, "If you let me."

"Can we play every day if we get married?" the girl asked suspiciously.

"We can do anything we want when we aren't working, and that can't be much harder than school," the boy explained, a bit excited.

"That's good. Most grown-ups only do boring things. We don't have to be like that?" the young girl questioned.

"Of course not. Most grown-ups are just silly," the boy said.

After a bit of though the girl happily said, "Okay then, I'll marry you. When can we get married?"

"We can't for a long time, until we're older. I think we have to have jobs first," the boy clarified.

"Well, we can still play together every day until I go visit the castle again, right?"

"Yes, the boy answered happily.

"I guess I don't want to be a boy anyway. Mama said if I was good she would buy me another spinny dress!"

"Is that magic?" the boy asked, not understanding what could possibly be special about a dress.

"No, silly! It means when I spin the dress spins too and goes straight out. Mama says I mustn't do that around company though, because it isn't ladylike, the girl finished in a tone that seemed to indicate that she had been reminded of this many times before.

"If that's what you like," the boy shrugged.

"A silly boy like you wouldn't understand. I'm glad I'm not going to turn into one of you," the girl teased lightly.

"You'll pay for that," the boy said, splashing through the stream towards her.

"You'll have to catch me first!" the girl squealed. She turned into a large fish and took off down the stream, leaving behind a sighing boy and a pile of clothes that he quickly retrieved and put with some of his own before they were lost in the water again. Jasson knew he probably couldn't catch her until she let him anyway.

Jasson always knew which animal she was though, even when she tried to hide. It was a game they always played. She usually stayed in sight of him, and before he got too tired she would slow down to let him get close. Once or twice he had caught her fairly, but usually she would just let him win eventually, for he would never give up.

That day, when he finally caught her, he threw her on land, forcing her to change shape, more fun on land than in rocky waist deep water. The wrestled and ran around for hours, resting whenever they were tired. Sarra would change her shape whenever she was losing or when Jasson was having too much trouble. She would be a dog, then a wild cat, and maybe back into a girl when she was winning. Sometimes she would be a pony or even a monkey if she really wanted to get away. That day, he remembered she became a fish again and swam back to their clothes, where they sat laughing and talking for hours until they were dry enough that their parents wouldn't mind them coming home. Every trip through the woods was fun, every day a new adventure. That day was one of the very best though. After that day, when most children would say "When I grow up…" these two more often said, "When we get married…"

End Flashback

The boy was brought back to the present by the very girl he was thinking about. He smiled and they ran off to play, though he couldn't stay as long as either of them liked, because he had to ride home before dark. The two lived about an hour's easy ride on horseback apart, but it did not take much longer on foot, because they could maneuver through the close trees that horses and ponies didn't like, rather than staying on the road. There were many relatively new baronies in this part of Tortall, where the kings would give land to people who had won his favor. Jasson's father had done something for the old king, just as Sarra's father did, though Jasson did not know exactly what. Being so close suited them perfectly though. Usually they met somewhere in the middle, but he had come the whole way today to talk to the great mages, a conversation that still gave him shivers.


	3. Chapter 3 Disappearing Time

Chapter 3- Disappearing Time

The young boy left for the capital for page training a few weeks later. He still saw Sarra often, which he always enjoyed, but they didn't get to spend much time alone like they would have at home. Sometimes her father even taught his magic class, about using the Gift and about other types of magic as well. In one memorable lesson he brought his wife and daughter and a few smaller animals to the class to demonstrate wild magic, showing them talking to animals and even turning into them, amazing or scaring the youngest group of pages except for Jasson. He wished he could have spent more time with his friend though. He did make many new friends who didn't tease him for spending time with a girl. In fact, there was a girl page just a year older than Jasson, and most people seemed to like her.

Rare weekend that Jasson would be allowed to go into the city were the best part of the capital. There were so many interesting things to look at, and the pages always needed breaks from work. Sometimes Sarra was there and could go with him too. She was, he knew, the most interesting person he had ever met, and she would always act in ways that surprised him. She was as good as any of his other friends to play and joke with, and better to talk to, and that was without even counting the excitement of all her animal friends.

The work seemed to fly by, with Jasson never having enough time to do everything. Midwinter was fast approaching. Jasson had already bought little gifts for his family and his friends among the pages, but he was at a loss as to what to get for Sarra until he saw a display of Yamini fans. They were pretty decorations but also dangerous weapons, which reminded him of Sarra, though he had grown shy enough that he didn't plan on telling her that. He found one with cats on it that he thought she would like; he learned that cats were very highly regarded by the Yamini people, but he thought any animal design would be perfect for Sarra. The pretty weapon was barely within his budget, and he could not have afforded it without the extra pocket money his family had given him this summer. They were proud of him for working towards being the first knight in their family. When his grandfather had been given a title, Jasson's father was a bit old to start page training, and it probably would not have suited him well anyway. Sarra was so happy with her gift that it made up for any amount of money spent.

"Thank you," she said, giving him a tight hug and a brief kiss on the cheek just by the side of his mouth, blushing slightly with nervous energy that they usually didn't have emerging.

"Here you go," she said smiling, handing him a carefully wrapped package that was only oddly crinkled on one end. He took out a plain but pretty dagger with a leather sheath with a horse engraved on it. "I wanted to sneak you in a kitten, but mama wouldn't let me, so we picked this out." After a pause she questioned, "Do you like it?" sounding a bit disappointed but hopeful in an odd combination.

"It's perfect!" he smiled.

The rest of the training year went by as fast as the first half, with each day seeming immeasurably long but with the weeks disappearing in a few blinks. Jasson was looking forward to summer and having some actual free time, and more time to spend with Sarra.

Summer was great, exactly like all the summers before, except that Jasson was stronger and faster than before. He still could not beat Rosy at archery though. Everyone said she had that gift from her grandfather, but Jasson always thought it was from all the hours spent practicing with her mother from the age that she was strong enough to pull a small bow. They spent hours at the stream and in the woods. Jasson even spent some time showing her some of the fighting he had learned at the castle, and he was impressed that she had learned to use her midwinter present from him from someone at the castle.

As fall approached, Jasson was excited to see his page friends again, but not really excited about anything else. It felt like an end of an age with Sarra, and he couldn't put it into any better words. He told himself that he was being silly, because this summer had been just like all the ones before- why would that ever change? He couldn't shake the feeling though.

The next year flew by as quickly as his first page training year, except he did not see Sarra as much because she was receiving formal training in wild magic with her parents to learn how to heal animals.

Jasson eagerly awaited this summer just as he had before; he could hardly wait to spend more time with his best friend again. Also, physical classes were becoming much harder, especially with the weighted harnesses second year pages and older wore, supposedly to prepare them for armor. It also didn't help that morning classes were so boring. He had been told that there had been an old knight teaching history that had made it almost as exciting as being there. He was the adoptive father of the Lioness, who Jasson had seen a few times. Pirate's Swoop, where the Lioness lived was just s few hours ride from his family's land. However, the old knight had retired a year before Jasson arrived. Jasson didn't see how anyone could make history interesting, but anyone would have been better than the old Mithran priests who taught almost every class.

This summer started just as any other summer, overly warm and filled with fun, until the first day the two decided to go swimming. As the two were stripping down to their loincloths like always, Jasson was given quite a shock. On the girl's small frame was, undeniably a breastband. This one happened to be embroidered with animals as well. The boy's eyes grew wide as he stared in shock before he came to his senses and turned around. He could not get the image out of his mind though. The girl was slimmer than he remembered and there were definitely new, still small bulges under the breastband. "W-when did you get that?" the boy stammered.

"The breastband?" the girl spoke with no hint of embarrassment, "Just a few weeks ago, I guess. Mama said that since I had started my monthlies a while ago that is was time I started wearing one," she continued on seemingly not noticing the ever growing silent discomfort of her friend. "It's so itchy though that I only wear it when someone makes me if they help me get dressed. Mother says I'll get used to it though, and this one is rather pretty," the girl finished happily.

All of this was just too much for the poor boy to hear about his young friend. Some things were not supposed to change so soon. "But you're only ten!"

"It's not _that_ strange," Sarra said a bit defensively, "And Mama thinks it might be because of the animals somehow. She started early too," the girl explained, still not treating this as any matter or importance.

"You-You're a woman now. You should get dressed," he said, turning to look at the girl but only at her face. "Maybe I should too," he sighed. It was a hot day outside and a great day for a swim in the stream or the small lake. The boy went for his clothes, trying not to look at Sarra again.

"No!" the girl said defiantly. "I don't want any of this. Maybe I should look into becoming a boy after all…"

"No… please," the boy said quietly, meeting her eyes again with a silent beg with emotion that neither children would really admit to or understand. Jasson was still only a boy himself.

The girl smiled, perhaps in victory or from an idea, "How about like this?" she asked before turning into a water creature that Jasson was not familiar with. This satisfied Jasson enough, though he tried not to think about the strangeness as he grabbed her loincloth to throw it on the side of the stream as was his custom, though this time he had to grab the decorative, small breastband as well. Forgetting these things though, they played for hours just as they always had except for that Jasson would not look at her in her human form until she redressed herself, which Sarra still found silly.

They only swam that summer when Sarra absolutely insisted upon it. The only time, still early in the summer, that Jasson asked to swim, Sarra told him that she shouldn't because she was bleeding. Jasson thought his face would never stop being red, and their lake was mentioned as little as he could manage. Instead, they more often rode horses or practiced archery. Jasson also taught her bits of the things he learned in page training: punches, kicks, and tricks that he had learned from the new knife master that sometimes came to taught the pages.

Jasson could not deny that his younger friend was growing up, and he wondered when other boys would begin to notice as well. The word "marriage" was not mentioned at all that summer, but Jasson still wondered what her thoughts were. His young friend was changing so quickly, and he knew that he was as well.


End file.
